Ooooh, THREAD CRUSH!

Recently, I sent a pattern to Rainbow Gallery that I designed to highlight a bunch of their threads. (Can you imagine how much fun it is to have a handful of new and delicious threads sent to you and then be asked to design something using them?!? Oh, BLISS!)

Anyway, Rainbow Gallery sent me some of their newest thread, SILK LAME' BRAID, and BOY was it wonderful to stitch with! It's a soft, flexible thread (72% silk, 18% rayon) with the slightest shimmer of metallic color woven thruout. It's not a fragile thread either. It's a good weight - like a full strand of floss or silk - so it stays in the needle and covers very nicely, too. It's NOT a strandable thread; rather, you just use it as it comes off the card, in a nice full strand of blended threads - 4 strand of silk braided with 4 strands of fine metallic. (To see the sparkle up-close, just double-click on the above photo and you'll get a dazzling eyeful!)

I especially appreciate Rainbow Gallery's color range. They don't just give you one or two yellows or pinks, but a whole range of each color - warm and cool variations of each color, so you can pick just the RIGHT color that you need.


Currently, Silk Lame' Braid is designed especially for 18 ct. canvas (it has the SL prefix) and comes in 42 colors. John Satterlee, at Rainbow Gallery, also mentioned to me that they will be coming out soon with Silk Lame' Braid for 13 ct. canvas (it's a little bit thicker, and just as soft and yummy). You can see a skein of it above in the warm pink color (it has the LB prefix.)

SO -- it's become my current THREAD CRUSH. (You know how you get crushes on movie actors, or singers? Well, I get the same kind of crush on new threads or threads that are new to me. Crazy, huh? Or maybe you can relate, too? ...hmmmm?)

Sometimes I stumble upon a new or different thread, and as soon as I stitch with it, it becomes my favorite thread. I love using it, and finding new uses for it. So, I'm thinking I'll be sharing some of those favorite threads with you, now and then, when they catch my eye, or pass thru my fingers. Cuz, you know..... we ALL NEED MORE THREAD for our poor languishing thread stashes, right? Of course we do!

P.S.: If you want to see the latest pattern I designed for Rainbow Gallery, just visit their website at: www.rainbowgallery.com ; then click on the "Free Patterns" menu and look for my DESERT ROSE.

It's a Stash Thing...

In order to finish the VINEYARD BOUQUET I showed you yesterday, I needed to go to the local stitchery store to find just the right beads to finish the grape clusters. Not only did I find some beads, but I found some other threads as well. Surprise, surprise. Here's the bag full of goodies I came home with:


You can see the bead assortment I found (for burgundy, gold, pink, and green grapes). Then notice the other threads: a handful of luscious Wildflowers and Waterlilies in teals, blues, orchids and purples....with matching silk Splendor colors.

That's usually how I get started on a new design...I find a bunch of thread types and colors that excite me and match the vision I have in my head. Then I set to work stitching with the different threads, adding or subtracting thread colors and types as I see the design develop on the canvas. For this particular design idea, I wanted more monochromatic threads, and the piece will eventually be done in just one (monochromatic) color, such as teal, blue, orchid or purple.

For now I'll put this pile of threads in a plastic bag for future reference, so when I'm ready to start stitching, all the threads I selected will be ready for me to use. And as you might guess, I have all sorts of stashes of thread bags hidden away in baskets, tins, boxes....the trick is to remember WHERE I put which thread for which project! But you know how it is...it's just a stash thing.

And what makes my "need" for more thread a little bit crazy (even to me) is that my kitchen table is currently covered in piles of hand-dyed threads, like this:


Skeins of pearl cotton threads in size 5, 8, and 12....that I've hand-dyed in lots of yummy colors....because you never can tell - I might just need some more thread one of these days!

...Well, what can I say? It's a stash thing....